The Road Ahead
Liberty Fairs and Scaling Retail partnered up Thursday to bring you a very important session about the future of the menswear industry, weathering the storm in and out of COVID19 in a session titled “Sweatpants and Zoom Calls: Where Do We Go From Here?”.
Retailers and brands in the pandemic have had varying stories about their outcome, a great deal have realized their business model is unsustainable, while others have pivoted to a more sustainable model which most likely is virtual and new demands like comfort have outpaced other sectors in men’s clothing; some are surviving, others are not.
A brand’s best course of action right now is suspend their seasonal drop approach for new season less pieces, holding off on seasonal collections until next year or beyond pending pandemic.
While businesses may be closing up shop or drastically downsizing, it’s also a great opportunity to start a new business even in COVID19, find a market that needs attention or operate strictly online, and you have yourself a successful where you also keep your capital spending at a minimum, leading to profits.
One note in Los Angeles, California is when sports finally returned after months on pause, retailers saw a buying surge in sportswear, because it brought much needed comfort to individuals having to live in unprecedented times that put their lives on hold, or saw a threat of their economic status; LA has always been a sports town since Magic Johnson brought personality to basketball, and LA created athleisure a decade ago.
The future of brands and retailers in menswear now and after COVID19 is not only to be nimble, but partner and collaborate as a way to survive and tap into new customer bases; that same customer base does not just want to see a finished product, but also want to see a product from its infancy and see how it develops.
Daniel Quintanilla
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